Breakfast Topic: Where are the sports references in WoW?
by Stephanie Drury 
Apr 21st 2011 at 8:00AM
There are many pop culture references that make it into the World of Warcraft, from celebrities to song lyrics and titles to movie and television quotes. But with all the pop culture references, we see very few sports references in WoW. Until Cataclysm.
I was pleasantly surprised when questing in the goblin starting zone, I saw a makeshift football field complete with goal posts. And actual footballs! Granted, the players are controlled machines, but it's an actual sport being represented in game! I was thrilled.
Where else could Blizzard implement sports? There are many sports that could be included, from rugby, to golf, tennis, basketball, soccer ... The list is staggering. When I thought of basketball, my mind immediately went to the '80s video game Double Dribble, where you have the ring moving vertically over the net as you try to make your foul shot. Blizzard could implement something like that in a quest with a round leather ball, where you earn higher points the further you are away from the hoop -- and hey, you've got basketball!
How and where would you like to see some of your favorite sports implemented in the World of Warcraft?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
MusedMoose Apr 21st 2011 8:05AM
In all honesty, Blizzard could make all kinds of sports references, and most of them I wouldn't get. ^_^
ddbrown89 Apr 21st 2011 8:30AM
I've just assumed that they've been there the entire time and I haven't cared enough to notice...
Drack Apr 21st 2011 8:33AM
Honestly, I only just found out about what a "fumble" is.
Blizzard can put in as many sports references as they feel, but I'd much rather them not make it something fairly important, like a battleground. I play this game to hit people in the face with an axe, and I'm gonna hit people in the face with an axe, darn it!
Trilynne Apr 21st 2011 8:33AM
My thoughts exactly.
Usually in geek and internet culture, there is a large amount of overlap in the stuff people have heard about. But with most sports fans I've met, they're only really fans of one, maybe two or three, different sports. So I think the receptive audience to a specific sports reference would be a lot smaller.
Mortenebra Apr 21st 2011 8:48AM
@Drack: No, see... what you do is, you have to toss your axe up in the air, clap three times, do five push-ups, catch your axe and THEN smash someone in the face with it. But you have to do it before the shot clock runs down. While tossing a frisbee to your teammate.
Nina Katarina Apr 21st 2011 9:06AM
I wish I could uprate this a couple dozen times. Honestly I don't care all that much for televised sports, and any single sports team or athlete reference would probably appeal to far too few people to make it cool. There are only a few athletes that make it to national icon status, and those usually have limited international appeal. TV/movie references often cross cultural boundaries because the US is so aggressive about exporting our television and movies.
Now, if you stretch the definition of sport, I'd love to see Top Gear references somewhere in game.
OldPossum Apr 21st 2011 9:28AM
And nothing of value would have been lost.
Sports and religion are so overrated in society already. Let's not fawn over them in WoW, too.
Verine Apr 21st 2011 9:36AM
nina:
I think the old racetrack in Thousand needles would have been a great place for some top gear references. It'd have to be boats now.
TonyKP Apr 21st 2011 10:06AM
I think you'd be surprised at just how many "regular guys" play this game. Most of us don't know where the forums or websites like this are (or even that they exist), but we're out there, and we appreciate the occasional nod in our direction (something that is getting more uncommon by the day as the game goes back to its hardcore roots).
Aykwa Apr 21st 2011 12:17PM
I agree with TonyKP. I play with friends who come from many professional walks of life: Law Enforcement, attorneys, doctors, wall street guys, COOs, fortune 500 mid-level managers, etc. We all enjoy playing WoW, but we also all share many other hobbies such as rock climbing, mountain biking, and sports. I don't think we need to put sports references in the dungeons or raids, but out in the wide open world they might be fairly interesting to stumble upon for a good many people. There are more than enough well-rounded nerds out there who could appreciate it, and I think Cata is showing us that Blizzard is aware of that.
Nathanyel Apr 22nd 2011 7:03AM
Especially outside the US/Canada, most players would simply not get the references anyway. "Pop culture" is usually more well-known outside North America, or even often originates outside of that continent anyway - Europe and Japan have strong music exports, and I heard the latter also has some success exporting comics and animation, though I repeat, this may be only hearsay.
Ahum... to sum it, sports* are too regional when looking at the global product World of Warcraft. I don't forbid the developers to include references to sports/athletes or other regional mumbojumbo they favor, it's their game after all and some people will enjoy them, but as Metzen put it last BlizzCon, these guys are geeks anyway, a type of human that is usually less interested in sports than the average person, anyway.
* Disclaimer: I would also like to emphasize that I differentiate between "sports" that you watch on TV while sitting on your couch, and physical training/outdoor hobbies that challenge more muscles than the ones in your cheeks.
I guess it is obvious which I deem the better thing.
Bob Apr 21st 2011 8:05AM
I recall back in Warcraft III's credits there being a football game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I49EpJyXcI
TonyKP Apr 21st 2011 10:07AM
I actually got a kick out of that. It was one of the first times that my computer gaming side and my football playing side co-existed.
Mycroft Apr 21st 2011 8:08AM
So if basketball can be said to be standing some distance away from a target, and then activating an ability to try to land an item in the target area... I do this already with fishing pools in WoW.
And just like real life fishing, by the end I get too drunk to care whether I catch anything or not and start yelling at inanimate objects.
durandal Apr 21st 2011 8:09AM
Indeed, goblins seem the to be the sporty race: There's a golf court at Gallywix' Pleasure Palace in Azshara. Funny, as if golf and pleasures would mix...
anonymous Apr 21st 2011 10:28AM
They should have the Darkmoon Faire permanently set up tent there. Make it instanced or phased and do something similar to the amusement park thing they had in Final Fantasy VII.
They had basketball, boxing, chocobo (hawkstrider) race betting, all sorts of fun stuff and other time wasters. You could win gold and tokens to spend at the park.
They could also add plants vs. zombies from Hillsbrad and all sorts of other non-sports games like Darkmoon Faire card games, too. Add some non-combat pet games like armadillo plinko, whack-a-marmot, snake charming, parrot (like the simon memory game), and hundreds more.
Have a nightly concert with L85ETC, fireworks, etc, and it would be THE sanctuary hangout.
kodakmsr99 Apr 21st 2011 12:38PM
yes..ask Tiger Woods about combining pleasure and golf...
I'm sure he could several examples
=P
Mycroft Apr 21st 2011 8:34PM
> parrot (like the simon memory game)
Oooh! Like the Ogri'la importing an apexis relic?
I would so burn that place to the ground.
Samutz Apr 21st 2011 8:12AM
Sports?
I mean...
Yea... sports... they should do that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEVdca9U9LM
Irin Apr 21st 2011 8:14AM
The goblins and gnomes should try settling their differences sometime with ock em sock em robots... it's the best take on boxing that wow can do.